Green
by Gohan Roxas
Summary: Cloud's dating Aerith. Tifa's crushing on him big time, and she's got a plan to make him hers. Cloud/Aerith, Yuffie/OC, Zack/Aerith, Cloud/Tifa. Rated T for language and themes.
1. We Made Plans

_**So here we go with another FF7 fanfic. Now I've got an idea for future chapters, but I'm not sure where to go with it. More info at the end of the chapter.**_

"Time and a place, guys!" I shouted to the blonde and brunette as they made out on the couch.

"Seriously, Cloud," my dark-haired friend agreed with me, "why can't you do that behind closed doors?"

The blonde, Cloud, broke off the kiss with his girlfriend and smirked at us. "Is that an order, Zack?" he leered at us.

"Man, will you stop that? You're like a freaking horny teenager," I ridiculed him.

"Don't I know it!" Cloud's girlfriend, Aerith, said from under him.

"Ew, ew, ew, don't need to know!" Zack shouted. This made Cloud and Aerith giggle cheekily and start making out again.

It was then that Tifa and Yuffie walked into the room. _Oh boy_, I thought, _here we go_.

See, everybody except Cloud and Aerith were painfully aware of one thing: Tifa has had the hots for Cloud since…well, forever. They grew up together in Nibelheim, they moved here to Midgar at exactly the same time. She ignored the beautiful, if slightly creepy, proposals that were made by her own personal stalker Johnny because she was pining after Cloud. It was sweet, but at the same time, kinda weird.

"I'm closing up, guys," Tifa said to all of us, successfully hiding the pain she felt at Cloud's relationship with Aerith. "You're welcome to help, though."

"We'd just be in the way," Aerith apologised. "We'll just go."

"Yeah, that's just an excuse for you guys to make out some more," Yuffie accused.

"You got us," Cloud sighed melodramatically, his hands up in mock surrender.

I rolled my eyes. It was disgusting, the way they carried on.

Now let me make one thing clear right now. It's not that I don't like Cloud and Aerith. Cloud's a nice guy under all that bravado, and Aerith's as sweet as they come…most of the time. All it is is that I notice what it does to Tifa. It tears her up inside. And I'm her friend. Friends look after each other.

**GREEN**

Now we were sitting at the bar, our cleaning all done. It was me, Tifa, Zack and Yuffie. The topic was, as usual, Cloud and Aerith.

Yuffie was blabbing something about there being nothing wrong with PDA's ("public displays of affection", she'd clarified), but that our two friends took it to extremes. Zack was listening intently. I was ignoring her completely and staring into space.

"Say, Luke," Tifa's voice broke me out of my trance.

"Huh?" I looked at her. "What's up?"

"I've got an idea."

"Whoa!" I hammered Zack's shoulder, which made both him and Yuffie look at me. "Hold the phone, guys, Tifa's got an idea!"

"No way!" Yuffie said mockingly. "Tell us, Boobs!"

"Yeah, spill!" Zack agreed.

"Guys! she admonished us, but she was laughing. "I'm serious."

"Oh," I said in a mock disappointed voice. "Okay then, spill."

"You guys know how much I like Cloud right?"

"Duh!" all three of us said.

"Well, I heard the best way to catch a guy's attention is to make him jealous."

"Where'd you hear that, one of Yuffie's stupid girly magazines?" Zack teased.

"Hey!" Yuffie shouted, smacking him on the arm. "They are not stupid!"

"Guys!" I shouted at them. "Focus!"

That shut them up.

"Go on, Tifa."

"So I thought it might be a good idea if I pretended that either Zack or Luke was my boyfriend."

I had a drink of water to my lips at the time, so when she said my name, I instantly sprayed water all over the place. "Sorry," I apologised.

"You what?" Zack asked, disbelieving.

"You heard her," Yuffie replied, grinning. "One of you lucky boys gets to be Tifa's main squeeze!"

"Though not really," I corrected her.

"Well I can't," Zack said immediately. I scoffed. I knew why. He wanted Aerith, and he was Cloud's best friend. He was scared that if he made a move on Tifa, even a fake move, one of them would rip his balls off.

"Well, since Zack's too much of a pussy to do it, then…" I trailed off. Everyone was looking at me expectantly. Then I realised.

_Shit._

"Hey there, boyfriend," Tifa said in a fake sweet voice, leaning into me.

I said nothing. I just sat there, bolt upright.

_This will not end well._

_**So here's my idea. Zack, Cloud and my OC, Luke, are part of a small band. Cloud plays piano and sings, Zack plays acoustic/bass/electric guitar and sings, while Luke just sings. I'm thinking about giving them a gig to further Tifa's plans, but the band's not complete. I have two ideas about this:**_

_**1) Bring in Reno on electric guitar and Rude on drums and call the band "the Turks"**_

_**2) Bring in Angeal on drums and Genesis on electric guitar and call the band "SOLDIER"**_

_**What do you guys think? Let me know through REVIEWS, or just PM me.**_

_**Thanks!**_


	2. Connections

_**Still asking for advice on the band plan. Check out the last chapter for details.**_

Tifa called our plan "Operation Green", as in 'green with envy'. She'd taken to talking in military-style codes when she was planning something. It might have been that time that Zack and I got her involved in a game of Black Ops that did it. As I recall, she head shotted me about five times. For someone who'd never played Call of Duty before, she was pretty damn good at it.

Anyway, we were commencing Phase One: The Dates. The idea was for us to organise a triple date; Cloud and Aerith, me and Tifa, and Zack and Yuffie (that was Tifa's idea).

"So, anyone got any ideas about a date spot?" Yuffie asked us.

I looked at her. She looked away immediately.

My gaze moved to Zack. He did the same thing.

Finally, I looked at my "girlfriend". She held my gaze for only a moment, then looked away.

I sighed. "Do I have to do everything?" I looked directly at them all. "I know a guy who owns and runs a restaurant here in Midgar. I can call in a favour, if you want."

"Who?" Zack wanted to know.

I dropped my head. "Lazard Deusericus," I murmured.

"What?" Tifa asked. "I didn't catch that."  
I raised my head again. "Lazard Deusericus," I repeated, louder this time.

Yuffie gasped. "_The_ Lazard Deusericus?"

"Is there an imitation one running around?" I asked dryly.

"You know the owner of Banora?"

"Yeah. So?"

"So?" Zack marvelled. "Banora's the swankest restaurant in Midgar!"

"I am aware of that."

"How do you know him?"

"Long story short, I used to work at Banora. I was having a bit of trouble with a debt, and Lazard helped me out. We've kept in contact."

"Whoa."

"Okay then," Tifa decided. "Luke, you call Lazard and ask for a table for six for tomorrow night."

"Why tomorrow?" I asked.

"Because I need to get something to wear," she replied, tapping the tip of my nose. "I don't want to look stupid on our first date." She chuckled.

I chose not to answer that.

**GREEN**

When I got back to my apartment, I grabbed my phone and dialled Lazard's number. The call was picked up almost immediately.

"Luke, my friend," Lazard's deep voice said. Evidently, Lazard had gotten caller ID since the last time I called him. "What can I do for you this fine day?"

"Well, it's not really what you can do for me today, Lazard. It's more what you could do for me tomorrow."

"You've managed to pique my interest, my young friend. Say on."

"Well, my friends and I are playing a bit of a prank on two of my other friends, and step one involves a fancy restaurant."

"And what exactly would this prank entail?" Lazard interrupted.

I gritted my teeth and told him.

Surprisingly, he laughed. "Brilliant, my boy, fantastic! And you need a table for how many?"

"Six."

Lazard was still chuckling. "Consider it done, Luke. A table for six here at Banora for tomorrow night, on me."

"Thank you very much, Lazard!" I said with real enthusiasm.

"Also, you'll have the most romantic table I can find," Lazard continued, still laughing.

I grinned. "Thanks, Lazard. You've been a big help! 'Bye."

"See you soon, my friend," Lazard finished, hanging up.

**GREEN**

After my call to Lazard, I sent a group text to Tifa, Zack and Yuffie. It looked a bit like this:

_Just called Lazard. He's in. Table for 6 Banora tomorrow night. Complete with candles. On the house._

I got a reply from Tifa instantly. I assume it was her getting into character, because it looked like this:

_Thanks soooooo much, baby! 3 See you tomorrow night ;)_

I chuckled wryly. It was so over the top, which was proof enough that she was getting ready for the show tomorrow.

Moments later, Yuffie texted me back:

_Hells yeah! Shit's gonna go down 2moro nite XD_

I laughed openly. Yuffie was the only one who shortened words like that in texts.

Zack was the last one to text me back. His text was short and sweet:

_Cool beans :D_

"Let the fun begin," I said to no-one in particular.

_**Reviews, please!**_


	3. Date Night

_**I think this is my longest chapter so far for this story. Hopefully, it's not too long.**_

I'd called Cloud early on the morning of the "date" to confirm that he was coming. Surprisingly, he agreed instantly. "I've always wanted to take Aerith to Banora, but with my wages I can't afford it." I rolled my eyes and hung up.

The plan was for us all to meet up at the bar and walk to Banora. However, Tifa had had an idea. She would drop by my apartment to pick me up in her car, and then drive to the bar.

"And why do you wanna do that?" I had asked her when she'd called me with her proposition.

"For authenticity if nothing else, baby," she'd replied in her best sappy voice.

"But wouldn't it be more authentic if I picked you up, not the other way around?"

She'd hung up on me when I'd said that, which made me laugh.

**GREEN**

Tifa pulled up at my apartment about ten minutes later. I double-checked my tie in the mirror before going out to meet her.

Even though I wasn't actually attracted to her, I had to admit she looked amazing. Her dress was a simple black, as were her shoes. "You scrub up pretty nice," she said loudly to me as I approached her.

"You're not so bad yourself," I quipped.

She grinned and opened the door of her black BMW. "After you," she purred, bowing low.

"If you insist," I grinned, diving into the passenger seat.

As we went off, an idea came to me. "I have an idea," I said to my date.

"Do you now?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the road.

"How about, when we get to the bar, we act like normal. But when we get to Banora, you start trying to…er, seduce me."

She glanced at me quickly. "Seriously?"

"Er…yeah." I was glad that it was a dark night, because I was blushing.

"You know, that's a good idea. You should tell Zack and Yuffie about it."

"Why?"

"Well," she said nonchalantly, "how about I first try to make a move on Zack, who says no. I get a bit pouty, but I move on to you. And you're a bit more…enthusiastic about it."

I looked at her. "Tifa, you are more devious than a politician."

"I know," she replied. "Aren't you proud of me?"

**GREEN**

We pulled up out front of the bar, where Zack, Cloud, Aerith and Yuffie were already waiting. Like me, Zack and Cloud wore simple black suits. Yuffie's dress was a dark green, while Aerith's was, as expected, pink.

"Looking good, Boobs!" Yuffie called out as we got out of the car.

"Thanks," Tifa replied, ignoring the nickname that Yuffie had given her which always annoyed the crap out of her.

"Looking fancy, Luke," Zack said to me.

"Spiffing, wot?" I replied in my best British accent.

"Let's go already!" Aerith shouted. That was out of character. Aerith's never in a hurry. "They'll give away our table!"

"No way, Aerith," I placated her. "Lazard's my friend, remember? He's expecting us."

"Oh. Sorry, I forgot."

Cloud grabbed her hand and led us away. I fell back to talk to Zack.

"Did you get my text?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I got it. Yuffie did too. That's a pretty good idea, by the way."

"Thanks." I'll admit that I said it a bit smugly.

**GREEN**

We were escorted to our table. It was round, with a white tablecloth. There were tall candles on the table in silver candle holders. Lazard had even scattered a few rose petals on the tablecloth. I rolled my eyes at that.

Cloud sat next to Aerith, as expected. Yuffie was on Aerith's right, and Zack was on Yuffie's. Tifa was next, followed by me.

Before we could even order entrees, Lazard came out of the office. He wore a white suit, and his blonde hair was swept back to keep it out of his eyes. His thin-rimmed glasses were perched a bit precariously on the bridge of his nose. He also wore white gloves.

"Luke, my good friend," he greeted me expansively, his arms out. "How are you?"

"I'm good, Lazard," I replied, getting up and giving him a "man-hug". "Better now that you're here, though," I added cheekily.

"Stop it, you. Ah, so these must be your friends."

"They are. Everyone, I'd like you to meet Lazard Deusericus. Lazard, this is everyone. To be precise, this is Tifa, Zack, Yuffie, Aerith and Cloud."

"Nice to meet you all. Now don't worry about paying for this. It's on me. Consider it a gift."

"Thank you, my friend," I grinned, and sat back down as Lazard left.

"Aw, that was nice of him," Tifa giggled. "Don't you think, Zack?" She casually put her hand on his.

Cloud gave him a bit of a look. I hid my smile behind my hand. Clearly Cloud did have some form of feelings for Tifa.

"Er, um, ah," Zack stammered, "yeah." He moved his hand away.

Tifa pouted. "Aww," she whined, sounding disappointed. Then she looked at me. "Thank you so much for this, Luke," she thanked me, winking.

I smiled and winked back. "No problem," I replied, nudging her other hand with mine. She took the hint and laced her pinkie finger over mine.

Now the fun's _really_ gonna start.

**GREEN**

The "date" was a success. Cloud and Aerith now believed that I was dating Tifa, and that Yuffie was at least interested in Zack.

Yuffie offered to drop Zack and me off after the dinner. Zack got dropped off first, before Yuffie's green Ford Fiesta pulled up to my apartment.

She got out and led me to the door, chatting to me about the plan all the while.

"So how was being Tifa's BF for the night?" she asked cheekily.

"Nervous," I replied. "Cloud seemed a bit protective."

"You saw it too, huh?"

"It was kinda hard to ignore it."

"But…"

I sighed. "But Tifa's a good-looking girl, and even pretending to be her other half is kinda nice."

"There," Yuffie smiled at me as we reached my door, "was that so hard?"

I chuckled slightly. "Not as hard as the kissing's gonna be."

"Why?"

"Because…er…" I was blushing again.

"Spit it out!" She punched my arm.

"Because I've never kissed a girl!" I blurted.

Her eyes widened. "So, you don't want your first kiss to not mean anything? Is that it?"

"Er, yeah." I was about to explain more, but I couldn't.

Mainly because Yuffie had grabbed my tie and kissed me full on the lips.

My arms flailed around for a bit, not knowing what to do. Eventually, though, my hands went to her shoulders, holding them lightly. For the love of the Planet, she was a good kisser!

The kiss went on for a while, until I remembered something. I suddenly pushed Yuffie away, leaving her with a shocked look.

"What's wrong?" she asked me.

I took a deep breath as I composed myself. I tried to explain, but no words came out.

"Is it that you don't want this?"

"What? No, no, no, no, that's not it at all! It's just the plan. You know, 'Operation Green'?"

"What about it?"

"Well, it wouldn't do the plan any good if I was meant to be dating Tifa, but I was making out with you on the side. So even if I did want this, which I do, we can't."

She stared at me for a while, but nodded slowly. "Just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"The minute the plan's over and done with, you're mine." Her eyes blazed with a fiery determination.

I grinned. "Deal."

We shook on it. Yuffie snuck a quick peck on my cheek before she left.

I held in my exultant yell until Yuffie's car had driven away. I didn't want her hearing it.

_**So about the band that I mentioned at the end of the first chapter. I've decided to do both! You'll understand better when the next couple of chapters roll around.**_


	4. Song Club

_**Everybody ready for a fairly long-winded chapter? I know I am!**_

About a week later, Zack called a meeting of 'Song Club'. It was pretty much just a jam session with me, him and Cloud.

It was Zack's idea to call it 'Song Club'. He'd watched _Fight Club_ the day before, so he enforced some of the Fight Club rules.

Rule 1 of Song Club: You do NOT talk about Song Club.

Rule 2 of Song Club: See Rule 1.

Eventually, 'Song Club' matured into a band. I'd included two of my workmates from Banora in the band: waiter Reno and chef Rude. We called ourselves 'the Turks' when we did gigs.

The bliss of success was soon marred by Zack's fanaticism over his stupid rules. Reno had reported one of our gigs to Lazard, which seemed reasonable to me, but Zack kicked him out of the band. I apologised profusely to Reno as he left, so we were still friends. Not long after Reno was fired, Rude left, saying that it wasn't any fun without Reno. Now that I look back on it, he was probably right.

Zack was playing us a song he'd written a few days before when I got a phone call. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and glanced at it. There was no name, just a number, so it wasn't anyone I knew.

"I gotta take this," I said apologetically to Zack, who nodded and kept playing.

I pressed the 'call' button on my phone and held it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Is that Luke Riordan?" a deep voice asked.

"Uh, yes, yes it is. Why? Who's asking?" Yes, I was a bit suspicious. A guy with a deep voice calls me and knows my name, but I have no idea who it is? You'd be suspicious too, wouldn't you?

The man on the other end of the phone chuckled. "Calm your fears, Mr Riordan. My name's Rufus Shinra."

I gasped audibly. "Rufus Shinra? The owner of Mako Reactor?" For the uninitiated, Mako Reactor is the best club in Midgar.

"That's right. I'm an old friend of Lazard."

"Of course you are," I said somewhat sarcastically.

"You're part of a band, aren't you?" Rufus asked me.

I glanced back at Zack and Cloud. "Sorta."

"Well, I was wondering if you would be interested in playing at my club in a couple of weeks."

My eyes bulged in their sockets. "Would I?" I made some show of clearing my throat and composing myself. "I mean, interesting proposal."

Rufus laughed. "Call me when you know for sure." Then he hung up on me.

I walked back to my friends, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"What's got you so happy?" Cloud asked.

"What would you guys say if I told you that Rufus Shinra wants us to play at Mako Reactor in a couple of weeks?"

"I'd tell Cloud to call the loony farm," Zack smiled at me.

"Well, don't. Because, and I'm dead serious about this, that was Shinra on the phone just now, and he wants us to play at Mako Reactor in a couple of weeks."

"Seriously?" Zack shouted, amazed. Soon, though, his look became sceptical. "Wait… How does Rufus Shinra know about us?"

"You remember Reno-Gate?"

"How could I forget?" Cloud said melodramatically, passing a hand over his eyes.

"Well, Lazard and Rufus are old friends. I imagine that Lazard told him about us."

"You know, I'm no longer pissed at Reno."

"I'm sure he'll swoon with delight when he finds out."

**GREEN**

"No freaking way!" Tifa squealed.

"Actually, yes freaking way," I corrected.

"There's only one problem," Zack interrupted our euphoria.

"What?" I asked flatly.

"We have no drummer. And we need another guitarist."

"I can fix that," Yuffie jumped in. "I know a couple of guys. They used to be in a band, but everyone around them quit suddenly a while back."

"Sounds perfect," I said. "Who are they?"

"A drummer named Angeal, and a guitarist named Genesis. I can call them right now, if you want."

"If you don't mind."

She pulled her phone out of her jeans and stood up. "It's the least I can do," she belittled it, winking at me as she walked off.

Tifa cast a puzzled look at me. "What was that?"

"What was what?" I asked obliviously.

"Yuffie just winked at you."

"Yeah. So?"

"I want details." She looked like she wouldn't give up until she knew, so I gritted my teeth and told her.

"When Yuffie took me home after the date last week, she kissed me."

"Seriously?" Zack asked.

"Why are you so fond of that word?" I deadpanned.

He shrugged. "It's as good as any other."

Yuffie came back from her phone call, and she was smiling. "They're in. They'll be here tomorrow."

"Excellent," I smiled at her.

**GREEN**

Angeal turned out to be a bulky man in his early thirties, with medium-length black hair and a trimmed beard on his chin. Genesis, on the other hand, was a man in his late twenties, with well-kept brown hair. All in all, they seemed like nice guys.

"So just to make it simple," I explained to them, "we write our own songs, and we don't really stick to one genre."

"Now that's the way to make music," Genesis approved.

"Thank you," I nodded to him. "Anyway, we'll play through a shortlist of songs that I've put together, then make some decisions about what we'll play at Mako Reactor."

Angeal nodded. "Let's do it."

**GREEN**

At the end of the jam session, we'd worked out exactly what we were going to play. Here's the list (the writer's name is in brackets):

1. "Last Night" (me)

2. "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" (Zack)

3. "Summer Paradise" (Zack)

4. "Over & Over" (me)

5. "Happiness" (Cloud)

6. "Check Yes Juliet" (me)

7. "Photograph" (Cloud)

8. "I'm Yours" (Cloud)

9. "Comatose" (Zack)

10. "Drive By" (me)

11. "Everything" (Cloud)

"So we're set?" Angeal asked me.

I nodded. "I'll call Shinra and tell him we're in." I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

"Hold on," Genesis interrupted.

"What's up?" Zack asked.

"We don't have a name."

Everyone looked at each other, expecting an idea.

I sighed heavily. Why was I the ideas man? "How about 'SOLDIER'?"

"Soldier?" Cloud asked, puzzled.

"No, SOLDIER. In all capitals."

Angeal looked downcast for a while, until his face brightened. "I like it," he approved simply.

"So do I," Genesis agreed.

"Okay then, a vote," Zack decided. "All in favour of calling the band SOLDIER?"

Everyone's hands went up.

"SOLDIER it is."

"Zack, why did you do that?" I said exasperatedly. "We had no other options."

He shrugged. "I like to be methodical."

I rolled my eyes but said nothing.


	5. Game On

_**I forgot to mention in the last chapter that I do not own the songs that I put in here, though I often wish I did.**_

_**CAUTION: There is some OOC-ness in this chapter.**_

"Ladies and gentlemen," Rufus said grandly on the stage, "welcome to Mako Reactor!"  
This got cheers from the crowd.

We were hanging out backstage, the band and our "other halves". Tifa was clinging to me as if she'd fall off the surface of the Planet if she let go.

"You guys are gonna kick ass tonight!" Yuffie assured us.

"Hopefully not each other's," Angeal quipped.

Tifa let go of me and looked into my eyes. "Good luck," she said simply. I could have sworn that I saw tears in her eyes.

I kissed her forehead. "Won't need it."

"Now, without further ado," Rufus was continuing his intro, "please give a warm Mako Reactor welcome to SOLDIER!"

The cheering continued as Angeal, Genesis, Zack and Cloud filed onto the stage. I was about to follow them when Yuffie grabbed my arm and pulled me out of sight.

"Wha-?" I started. That was stopped by Yuffie kissing me. When she was done, she wordlessly let go and pushed me on stage.

The guys gave me a look as I walked to the microphone, but said nothing. I gave them an apologetic look in return.

Without any preamble, we started playing out first song, _Last Night_, written by yours truly.

_Last night (last night),_

_Can't remember (remember),_

_What happened (what happened)?_

_Where'd we go?_

_I woke up (woke up)_

_This morning (this morning),_

_Where's my car, where's my keys, where's my clothes?_

_I feel my head still spinnin' but I'm doin' alright,_

'_Cause I think I just had the best night of my life_

_Last night (last night)_

_Can't remember (remember)_

_What happened? Did it happen?_

_Last night!_

Next came Zack's first song, _I Will Follow You Into the Dark_, which was just me and him, no-one else.

_If Heaven and Hell decide that they both are satisfied,_

_Illuminate the 'no's on their vacancy signs._

_If there's no-one beside you when your soul embarks,_

_Then I'll follow you into the dark._

_Summer Paradise_ was next.

'_Cause I remember every sunset,_

_I remember every word you said,_

_We were never gonna say goodbye,_

_Singin' "La da da da da"_

_So tell me how to get back to_

_Back to summer paradise with you,_

_And I'll be there in a heartbeat._

One of my songs followed up; this time, it was _Over & Over_. Before we got started, though, I noticed that the audience was in the palms of our hands.

_Over and over, over and over I fall for you,_

_Over and over, over and over I try not to._

_Over and over, over and over you make me fall for you,_

_Over and over, over and over you don't even try to._

Okay, I'll admit that that song is a bit repetitive, but I was having an off day when I wrote it. Cut me some slack, will ya?

Cloud's first song finally came next; it was called _Happiness_, and I was more than happy to let him sing it.

_Happiness, you belong to me,_

_Happiness, you're mine._

_Ooh, happiness, you belong to me,_

_Happiness, you're mine!_

We had a couple more songs written by the three of us, but I'll skip over them. You're a bit sick of it now, I bet? Well, be grateful, there's only three more that I'm gonna put down here.

_**Yes, I am aware that this is becoming more songfic-ish, but please don't hate me for it.**_


	6. Waking Up

_**Gohan Roxas: **__So most of this little chappy is Zack singing to someone. Is it Yuffie, the one he's meant to be interested in? Or is it Aerith, the girl he's ACTUALLY interested in?_

_**Yuffie: **__Just tell them! They wanna know!_

_**Gohan Roxas: **__Oh, they really do wanna know? In that case… *singsong voice* I'm not telling!_

_**Yuffie: **__Stop messin' around!_

_**Gohan Roxas: **__Sorry, ma'am._

The crowd roared as we finished _I'm Yours_. I grinned as I saw that Tifa, Yuffie and Aerith were bouncing up and down, cheering for us.

"Alright," I said to the crowd. "We've only got three more songs, then we're done for the night."

"Aww…" the crowd groaned collectively.

I laughed. "Fret not, we're still gonna be here for a while. Now then," I grabbed the mike from the stand and walked over to Zack, who was strapping in his electric guitar. "Zack's gonna be the main singer for the next song…which is only fair, since he wrote it. Now I've been told that Zack is dedicating this song to a special someone out there in the crowd."

The girls in the crowd giggled.

I grabbed Zack's shoulder and smiled. "Okay, this song's called _Comatose_. Take it away, Zack!"

Angeal tapped his drumsticks together four times to set the tempo, and Cloud played some notes on his keyboard to start us off.

Then Zack started with the lyrics.

_**Zack**_

_I hate feeling like this  
I'm so tired of trying to fight this  
I'm asleep and all I dream of  
Is waking to you  
Tell me that you will listen  
Your touch is what I'm missing  
And the more I hide I realize  
I'm slowly losing you  
Comatose  
I'll never wake up without an overdose of you_

I don't wanna live, I don't wanna breathe  
'Less I feel you next to me  
You take the pain I feel  
_**Luke**_

_Waking up to you never felt so real  
__**Zack**_

_I don't wanna sleep, I don't wanna dream  
'Cause my dreams don't comfort me  
The way you make me feel  
__**Luke**_

_Waking up to you never felt so real  
_

_**Zack**__  
I hate living without you  
Dead wrong to ever doubt you  
But my demons lay in waiting  
Tempting me away  
Oh, how I adore you  
Oh, how I thirst for you  
Oh, how I need you  
Comatose  
I'll never wake up without an overdose of you_

I don't wanna live, I don't wanna breathe  
'Less I feel you next to me  
You take the pain I feel  
_**Luke**_

_Waking up to you never felt so real  
__**Zack**__  
I don't wanna sleep, I don't wanna dream  
'Cause my dreams don't comfort me  
The way you make me feel  
__**Luke**_

_Waking up to you never felt so real  
_

_**Zack**__  
Breathing life, waking up  
My eyes open up_

Comatose  
I'll never wake up without an overdose of you

I don't wanna live, I don't wanna breathe  
'Less I feel you next to me  
You take the pain I feel  
_**Luke**_

_Waking up to you never felt so real  
__**Zack**__  
I don't wanna sleep, I don't wanna dream  
'Cause my dreams don't comfort me  
The way you make me feel  
__**Luke**_

_Waking up to you never felt so real  
__**Zack**__  
Oh, how I adore you  
__**Luke**_

_Waking up to you never felt so real  
__**Zack**_

_Oh, how I thirst for you  
__**Luke**_

_Waking up to you never felt so real  
__**Zack**_

_Oh, how I adore you, oh,  
The way you make me feel  
__**Luke**_

_Waking up to you never felt so real._

_**Yeah. Cool, eh? Haha.**_

_**Please review!**_


	7. I Really Fell For You

_**So I decided to take the advice of a certain reviewer (who shall remain nameless) and add more narrative into the song bits. This one isn't that good at that, but I tried.**_

Raucous applause came from the crowd as the song finished. Zack grinned at them.

"Okay," Zack yelled over the noise, "it's Luke's turn now to sing to that special someone."

More giggling girls. I rolled my eyes (I have a habit of doing that. Did you notice? I thought I noticed you noticing).

"This song's called _Drive By_," Zack continued. He replaced his electric guitar with an acoustic and grinned at me as I went back to the mike. When I was ready, he started playing the simple riff that was the intro. Then I started singing the song.

Now, before I actually put the song in here, I'll warn you of something. I was thinking of Yuffie while I sang. I know. It's terribly sappy, isn't it?

Anyway, back to me singing.

_On the other side of a street I knew  
Stood a girl that looked like you  
I guess that's deja vu  
But I thought this can't be true  
'Cause you moved to west L.A or New York or Santa Fe  
Or where ever to get away from me  
_

Cloud started clapping his hands to the beat behind me (there wasn't much he could do in this song), and the crowd picked up on it. They were really getting into it.

_Oh but that one night  
Was more than just right  
I didn't leave you 'cause I was all through  
Oh I was overwhelmed, and frankly scared as hell  
Because I really fell for you  
_

_Oh I swear to you  
I'll be there for you  
This is not a drive by  
Just a shy guy looking for a two ply  
Hefty bag to hold my love  
When you move me everything is groovy  
They don't like it sue me  
Mmm the way you do me  
Oh I swear to you  
I'll be there for you  
This is not a drive by  
_

I heard Tifa yell out, "Go baby go!" from the crowd. I grinned at her and pointed in her general direction while I sang the next verse.

_On the upside of a downward spiral  
My love for you went viral  
And I loved you every mile you drove away  
But now here you are again  
So let's skip the "how you been"_

_And get down to the "more than friends" at last  
_

Yuffie's ears seemed to perk up at that last line. Well, her eyes widened. I smirked and kept singing.

_Oh but that one night  
Is still the highlight  
I didn't need you until I came to  
and I was overwhelmed, in fact as scared as hell  
Because I really fell for you  
_

_Oh I swear to you  
I'll be there for you  
This is not a drive by  
Just a shy guy looking for a two ply  
Hefty bag to hold my love  
When you move me everything is groovy  
They don't like it sue me  
Mmm the way you do me  
Oh I swear to you  
I'll be there for you  
This is not a drive by  
_

I swept my arms out wide as an indication to the crowd to stop clapping. They did, instantly.

_Please believe that when I leave  
There's nothing up my sleeve but love for you  
And a little time to get my head together too  
_

_On the other side of a street I knew  
Stood a girl that looked like you  
I guess that's deja vu  
But I thought this can't be true 'cause_

Next to me, Zack shouted "Come on everybody, clap!" and they did exactly that.

_Oh I swear to you  
I'll be there for you  
This is not a drive by  
Just a shy guy looking for a two ply  
Hefty bag to hold my love  
When you move me everything is groovy  
They don't like it sue me  
Mmm the way you do me  
Oh I swear to you  
I'll be there for you  
This is not a drive by_

_**Like it? Dislike it? Hate it with a passion? Let me know in your REVIEW!**_


	8. The Twist in the Tale

_**Things are coming to a head, and we've only got a little while to go! This chapter's a bit short, but not as short as the first chapter of the new story I just put up.**_

I got the feeling that the crowd really liked us, because they were cheering for a while.

"Alright, settle down now," I told them. "It's Cloud's turn to sing to his lady love."

I saw Aerith blush in the crowd.

"So without further ado," I continued, imitating Rufus' introduction, "I present Mr Cloud Strife!"

More cheering. Cloud smiled at Aerith before he started the song.

And here's how it went.

_You're a falling star, You're the getaway car.  
You're the line in the sand when I go too far.  
You're the swimming pool, on an August day.  
And you're the perfect thing to say._

And you play it coy, but it's kinda cute.  
And when you smile at me you know exactly what you do.  
Baby don't pretend that you don't know it's true.  
'Cause you can see it when I look at you.

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times  
It's you, it's you, You make me sing.  
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.

Cloud did a quick check in his pocket for something. I gave him a funny look, but he just shrugged and kept going.

_You're a carousel, you're a wishing well,  
And you light me up, when you ring my bell.  
You're a mystery, you're from outer space,  
You're every minute of my every day._

The crowd was loving it. They were swaying and clapping along. I grinned at how well we were doing.

_And I can't believe that I'm your man,  
And I get to kiss you baby just because I can.  
Whatever comes our way, we'll see it through,  
And you know that's what our love can do._

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times  
It's you, it's you, You make me sing  
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.

I started to think about the lyrics, and what Cloud was doing. He wasn't looking at anyone or anything other than Aerith. And the lyrics? The whole "you're everything" bit? Not to mention him checking his pocket before. What the hell was going on here?

_So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La  
So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La_

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times  
It's you, it's you, You make me sing.  
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.  


Things were slowly starting to click in my mind. So Aerith is Cloud's everything, huh? And the checking of the pocket before... He couldn't be planning to…

No. No fucking way.

_You're every song, and I sing along.  
'Cause you're my everything.  
Yeah, yeah_

So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La  
So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La

The cheering was phenomenal. Cloud smiled, grabbed his mike from the stand and stepped away from his keyboard. "Before we go I'd like to say something. Aerith," he looked directly at her, "I'm not gonna beat around the bush with this, so please come up here."

Aerith rather bashfully walked up onto the stage and held Cloud's outstretched hand.

"Aerith, I just said that I won't beat around the bush, so I won't."

He got down on one knee.

He pulled a small box out of his pocket.

He opened it. There was a diamond ring in it.

"Aerith," he asked, "will you marry me?"

Everyone except Cloud just stood there in shock. I glanced at Tifa, and she was crying. She was about to lose the man she loved forever.

I looked back to Aerith. Her look was one of shock. She seemed almost incredulous.

She started crying, and she took one step backwards.

Now it was Cloud's turn to be shocked.

Without a word, Aerith ran off stage and out of the club, leaving Cloud kneeling there, looking like a complete moron.

I acted very quickly then. "Okay," I said to the crowd. "We have been SOLDIER, thanks for being here tonight. Goodnight everybody!"

The applause was subdued.

I grabbed Cloud's arm and lifted him up. "Come on, we can talk about this later."

He looked at me. I noticed with a start that he was crying.

_**Dun-dun-dun!**_

_**Review please!**_

_**PS. I'm planning a sequel, which is also a sequel with my first fanfic, New In Town. In other words… CROSSOVER! XD**_


	9. No Pride in Victory

_**Here we go, the penultimate chapter of Green! As thanks to a reviewer who said that they wanted to see something between Tifa and Luke… Well, you'll find out soon enough.**_

It's been about a month since our gig at Mako Reactor. Aerith and Cloud are once again on speaking terms after she rejected his proposal. Aerith had explained to all of us, including Cloud, that she loved him…but not enough to marry him. Cloud totally understood, and they were friends again; in fact, they were like brother and sister.

Now there's something that I've noticed before. Sometimes, if a relationship doesn't work out, the two parties become like brother and sister. Don't believe me? Feel free to check out my Facebook page, and look at my siblings. You'll see two girls there, one named Elena, the other Cissnei. I'd dated both of them when we were in high school, and it hadn't worked out. But they became like family.

I haven't spoken to either of them for a while. I'll have to do that at some point.

You know, you really shouldn't let me wander off like that. We'll be at this forever if that keeps happening.

Anyway, Operation Green had reached its climax, which was also the hardest part: breaking up the fake relationships to build real new ones. We'd have to convince Cloud that he's in love with Tifa (he just doesn't know it yet), as well as end my 'relationship' with Tifa, and Yuffie's supposed infatuation with Zack.

Now that Aerith was no longer a part of the problem, we let her in on the plan. She seemed a bit shocked about it all. She'd obviously believed that my dating Tifa had been real, so finding out that it wasn't would've been a shock.

It was Aerith who actually came up with a workable plan. Only thing was it made me look like a jerk.

"You want me to what?" I shouted at her when she revealed her idea to us one day.

"Get seen with Yuffie. You know…all secretive and cutesy."

I gave her my 'you really wanna risk me getting my balls cut off by Cloud' look. By the way, that look is copyrighted. And I'm serious about that.

"I'm serious!" she said innocently.

"It's workable," Zack mused.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I shouted at him. "Why am I the one who has to look like a total douche?"

Zack seemed taken aback by my passion on the subject.

"Why is this getting you so riled up?" Tifa asked.

That shut me up. I crossed my arms and looked down. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Come on, tell us," Yuffie urged.

"Alright, alright! My parents broke up because my dad had been screwing some floozy on the side. You happy now?"

Tifa's eyes widened, and she impulsively hugged me. "I'm sorry."

"Er…don't be," I stammered, a bit shocked by the attack-hug.

"How about a compromise?" Yuffie asked us then.

"Like what?" Aerith queried.

"Like maybe Tifa's the one who cheats on Luke."

Tifa let go of me and sat bolt upright. "What?" she asked flatly.

"Hear me out," Yuffie protested. "Let's say you kiss Cloud in front of Luke. He breaks up with you, then you're free to move on to Cloud."

Tifa's face went all dreamy when Yuffie said "kiss Cloud". It eventually took me snapping my fingers in front of her face to snap her out of it.

"Huh?" she asked, bewildered.

"And she's back," I deadpanned.

**GREEN**

For some reason, Tifa wanted me to walk her home that night. "You know," she said to me suddenly, "this has been fun."

"What, me walking you to your house?"

She punched my arm playfully. I still have a bruise from that friendly punch. "No, this whole 'pretending to date you' thing."

"Oh, that." We'd reached her door by now. "Yeah. It was pretty fun, wasn't it?"

She hugged me suddenly. "I'm gonna miss you," she said tearfully.

I chuckled. "It's not like I'm moving away, Teef."

She laughed into my chest. "I know. It's just…"

I couldn't resist. I disengaged her arms from my waist and straightened her up. I smiled slightly as I gingerly took hold of her chin and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips.

She seemed strangely willing to keep that kiss going for a while (I have no idea why), and she pouted as I pulled away.

I laughed at her upturned lip. Then I paused. I was thinking deeply. I do that a lot. "Here's an idea."

"What?"

"If we're not with anybody by the time we're, say, 35 or 40, we marry each other."

Her eyebrows furrowed in thought. About a minute later, her face lit up. "Not a bad idea. You'd make a good second prize if things don't work out with Cloud for some reason."

"Thanks," I said dryly.

She laughed and kissed my cheek. "See ya tomorrow, ex!"

I laughed back at her. "Right back at ya, ex!" Still laughing, I put my hands in my jeans pockets and walked home.

The way I saw it, no matter what, I was gonna end up with a beautiful woman. If things worked out between me and Yuffie, great. If not, Tifa was my back-up wife. I grinned. _Everything's comin' up Riordan_, I exulted in my head.

I knew that back-up wife plan would work, too. I'd seen it on an episode of _How I Met Your Mother_, and almost all my wisdom comes from that show. Mainly Barney.

_**Like it? Love it? Dislike it? Hate it with a holy passion? Tell me in your REVIEW.**_


	10. Falling Into Place

_**So just a short chapter to end it. Hope you guys like it.**_

Tifa and Cloud were kissing. Finally. A shame that it took this long, and such drastic measures, too.

I smiled. I already knew how I was gonna act this out. "Took you guys long enough."

Tifa and Cloud jumped away from each other, looking guilty.

"I mean, come on. After you and Aerith ended, Cloud, I just kept thinking to myself… When is Cloud gonna make a move on Tifa?"

Cloud gave me a puzzled look.

I laughed at that. "Okay, I'll admit that I'm a bit hurt that Tifa didn't break up with me before she moved on, but come on. We were as good as over after that gig." I smiled at Tifa. "Relax, Teef, we're still friends. Maybe even best friends." Saying that, I turned and walked away, waving to them as I left.

Yuffie and Aerith were waiting for me in the next room. "How did it go?"

I kept my face bland and said nothing for a while and just sat down next to Zack, who was busy getting massacred in a game of Black Ops. Behind me, I heard Aerith and Yuffie give off worried grunts. I eventually smirked slightly and turned to them. "I officially declare Operation Green a success," I congratulated them.

They squealed excitedly and hugged me. Aerith's hug was very quick, then she moved on to something more lingering with Zack, who'd paused his game.

Yuffie, on the other hand, moved straight on from the hug to starting a full-on make-out session, which I participated in eagerly.

Tifa and Cloud came back into the room, hand in hand. They stopped when they saw Yuffie kissing me, and Aerith kissing Zack. I broke off my kiss with Yuffie to look at them; I put one finger up, as if I was about to explain the situation, then made some show of spotting Tifa and Cloud's interlocked hands. I started to laugh. Yuffie, Zack and Aerith caught on quickly, and they too laughed.

Tifa started laughing too. Cloud just stood there, dumbfounded, until he joined in the laughter, albeit sheepishly.

**GREEN**

It's been about two months since Operation Green came to a close. The relationships that had been formed were still as close as ever (no surprise there), and SOLDIER (our band, if you remember) was still meeting up once every week. During one of those sessions, I got another anonymous phone call, much like when Rufus Shinra had called me with the gig offer. I made my excuses to the guys and answered the phone.

"I'm guessin' that that's Luke Riordan?" a gruff voice asked me.

"Yes, yes it is."

"Good! I'm not gonna mess around here. You're talkin' to Barrett Wallace."

I stammered in surprise. "As in Barrett Wallace, owner and manager of AVALANCHE Records?"

"Is there a fake one runnin' 'round somewhere?" Barrett growled.

I laughed nervously. "To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr Wallace?"

**GREEN**

I called a meeting of the gang at Tifa's bar that day, and I included Angeal and Genesis. Tifa gave Cloud a perfunctory kiss as he walked in, while the kisses Zack and I received from our girlfriends were a tad longer.

"So what's the big news?" Genesis asked.

"It must be big if you included us," Angeal added.

I sat down and rubbed my hands together. "What would you guys say if I told you that Barrett Wallace wants to sign us to AVALANCHE Records?"

Zack sighed theatrically. "I knew it was coming," he lamented to Aerith. "He's finally lost it."

Aerith giggled.

"Guys," I shot Zack a look, "I'm serious."

"Seriously serious?" Tifa asked.

"Is there a less serious type of serious than the one I know about?" Cloud deadpanned, kissing her.

I was nodding sagely. "We can sign a contract with AVALANCHE if I tell Barrett 'yes' within a week."

"Then call him now," Genesis and Angeal said together.

"You guys do know that if we do this, there is no going back? It'll be goodbye normal life. Do you guys still wanna do it?"

That gave them pause for thought. Eventually, Cloud nodded.

"Yeah," Zack said.

"I'm in," Genesis added.

"So am I," Angeal agreed.

I nodded decisively. "Okay, I'll go make the call." I walked off and redialled Barrett's number on my phone. I got the receptionist.

"Hi, this is Luke Riordan. Could you give a message to Mr Wallace? My band SOLDIER? We're in."

_**So to everyone who took the time to read this, and the people who reviewed (good or bad), I just wanna say THANKYOU.**_

_**I have other stories out there, if you wanna check them out. And please do.**_

_**Once again, THANKYOU, ALL OF YOU.**_


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